State AG Opinions
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Should county motor-vehicle fund allocations count registered owners’ residence or where their vehicles were mostly used?
The registered owner’s residence controlled under the then-current allocation formula. The AG said predominant vehicle use elsewhere could not replace the statutory owner-residence measure.
Was Tacoma bound by county zoning when establishing a municipal airport outside city limits?
No. The AG read Washington’s then-current municipal-airport statute as allowing Tacoma to establish an airport outside its boundaries without being governed by county zoning regulations for that project.
Could a county offer a reward before felony charges were filed, and could a sheriff claim a county reward?
No reward or poster expense was authorized for a person only suspected of a felony and not charged or convicted. The AG also said sheriffs and deputies could not claim a county reward for…
Were physicians licensed in California or New York entitled to a Washington medical license without examination?
Not automatically. The AG said the director of licenses had discretion under the amended reciprocity statute, even for applicants from states with reciprocal laws. Applicants had to show equivalent…
Was assigning a mortgage-foreclosure purchaser’s certificate of sale subject to real-estate excise tax?
Yes. The AG said the purchaser’s voluntary assignment of a foreclosure-sale certificate was a taxable transfer of a real-property interest, even though the original court-ordered foreclosure sale…
Did Washington parks commissioners appointed without Senate confirmation have to be elected state officials?
Yes. The AG read the statute as reserving the three seats appointed without Senate confirmation for elected state officials. It concluded that the existing appointees who lacked that qualification…
Could one owner of a Washington joint savings account pledge the whole account for a loan in 1957?
No. The AG said an agreement permitting either depositor to withdraw did not also permit either to pledge or assign the account. All joint depositors had to sign for a valid pledge; a one-owner…
Did Washington charge real estate excise tax when a court ordered commonly owned land sold instead of partitioned?
Yes. The AG distinguished a court ordered sale followed by division of proceeds from a partition of the land itself, which was excluded from the statutory definition of a taxable sale.
Could a purchaser recover Washington property taxes paid after the land had escheated to the state?
Yes. The AG said the superior court decree escheating the land to the state was a public record that made the later tax assessment a manifest error, allowing a refund petition under the then-current…
Could a Washington rural county library district spend accumulated funds without a budget item or an emergency declaration?
The AG said accumulated library funds needed an expenditure item in the budget for the year they would be spent. Trustees could not declare an emergency to spend money omitted from the annual…
When county commissioners deadlocked on filling a joint legislative vacancy, could the Governor appoint before sixty days passed?
The AG said waiting until the sixty-day county-commissioner period expired was the preferable course. It did not say an earlier appointment after a hopeless deadlock was necessarily invalid; the…
When did Washington assume liability for damage or injuries during civil defense work in 1957?
The AG said the state could owe for negligent damage to housing obtained by authorized civil defense agents and for injury caused by a negligent civil defense worker. Unenrolled volunteers generally…
Could a city skip a primary in wards with only two candidates, and could its charter elect someone outright at the primary?
Under the then-current statute, a primary was needed throughout the city if any city office had more than two candidates, even in wards with fewer. A first-class city charter could place only a…
Did county assessors have to use state Tax Commission valuation rules, and who made the final property-value judgment?
The Legislature required county assessors to use the Tax Commission’s valuation rules, guides, and manuals. The AG said the state could prescribe general methods, but the assessor retained final…
Could the state library commission accept federal rural-library funds and designate the librarian to administer the program?
Yes to both. The AG read the state library commission’s grant statute as authorizing acceptance and expenditure of federal library funds and its administrative powers as allowing it to designate the…
Who controlled the rates, schedules, and street use of an intracity bus company in Washington?
The AG said the Public Service Commission controlled bus rates and service affecting the general public despite a city franchise. The city retained control over its own street use and related…
Did Washington’s Public Service Commission control railroad crossing signals inside a first-class city?
No. The AG said the statutory exclusion for first-class cities still governed. A 1955 law mentioning “any city” did not clearly restore commission authority over signals or their cost at crossings…
Did Washington’s State Trade Fair Fund need a separate legislative appropriation before the agriculture director could spend it?
No. The AG read the 1955 act as creating a separate trust fund outside the state treasury and making its earmarked money available to the director of agriculture for trade fairs without another…
Could a Washington port withdraw from a union agreement or stop serving customers during a strike?
The AG said a port could not unilaterally withdraw from a valid union agreement without a legally recognized breach or excuse. It gave no categorical answer on liability to customers during a…
Who had to maintain and evaluate cost accounting at Washington public institutions in 1956?
The AG said the director of public institutions still had to install and maintain cost accounting systems after the departmental reorganization. The director of the budget had to evaluate whether…
Did Washington county commissioners have to fill a Senate vacancy when only a possible special session remained?
The AG said commissioners did not have to appoint immediately if all regular sessions had passed and only a possible special session remained. If the Governor called a special session, they should…
Could a Washington city raise its mayor’s salary after the primary election but before the general election?
Yes, before the general election that finally chose the mayor. The AG said a raise after the general election but before the new term would violate the constitutional bar on increasing an officer’s…
Could Washington finance rental housing for state institution employees with bonds repaid from rent?
The AG said proposed legislation for employee housing on state institution grounds likely could use private construction or revenue bonds. Its bond answer depended on a special fund repaid from…
Could a Washington school district reimburse a principal for travel to a basketball scheduling conference?
Yes. The AG treated the board-approved travel to coordinate basketball games and player eligibility as an authorized school purpose, making the principal’s actual travel expenses a valid district charge.
Could a Washington county divide tax title land into smaller parcels before resale?
Yes. The AG concluded that the 1945 session law expressly allowed counties to sell a portion of tax title land, even though its phrase including tax title land had been omitted from the codified version.
How did Washington voters approve a new school district combining whole districts and part of another?
The AG said the consolidation needed majority approval from voters in each whole district separately and from voters in the part of another district included in the proposed new district. Voters in…
Did Washington own a Bremerton dock when its lease to the city expired in 1951?
No. The AG said the dock sat on a public place dedicated to public use under city control, so the state had no ownership claim to the city improvement, its rents, or its insurance proceeds. The city…
Could Washington let a city council choose whether its clerk or attorney was elected or appointed?
The AG said proposed legislation could give eligible second- and third-class city councils that choice by ordinance without unconstitutionally delegating legislative power. Its answer concerned city…
Did time spent as a fugitive after parole revocation count toward a Washington prison sentence?
No. The AG read the statute to stop the sentence clock from revocation until the parole violator returned to custody. The board could require service of the remaining term without credit for that…
Did Washington counties have to buy blanket bonds for unelected employees one year at a time?
No. The AG found no statute requiring annual purchases for blanket bonds covering nonelective county employees. County commissioners could choose a longer term while deciding bond coverage and…
Did Washington require cash when selling gravel from navigable riverbeds in 1955?
Generally yes. The AG said the public lands commissioner had to collect cash at the date of sale for gravel from navigable riverbeds. Gravel from the Columbia River where it formed the Oregon border…
What salary step did a Washington state employee returning from military service receive in 1955?
The AG said a qualified returning employee had a right to the same salary step held before military service. The appointing officer could advance the employee to a higher step, but a merit-based…
Could a Washington bank open a branch in an unincorporated area of another county in 1955?
No. The AG read Washington’s branching statute as allowing branches in cities or towns statewide for banks meeting the larger capital requirement, but unincorporated-area branches only in the bank’s…
When did a Washington public body have to give new notice after recessing or adjourning a meeting in 1955?
The AG said no new media notice was needed for a same-day recess or a meeting continued to the next business day and then day to day. A later, noncontinuous meeting required notice to entitled…
Could a Washington real estate broker prepare clients’ deeds and contracts without a separate legal fee in 1955?
The AG said preparing deeds, mortgages, contracts, and earnest money agreements for others was practicing law even when a broker filled in blank forms and charged only the normal commission. It…
Did incorporating Bellevue and Normandy Park as third-class cities remove them from their fire district?
Yes. The AG said the new cities were automatically excluded from the district for current operations and expenses. The territory could still be taxed to satisfy fire-district debt incurred before…
Did Washington’s 1953 Cemetery Board law apply to cemetery corporations formed before 1943?
Yes. The AG said cemetery charters were subject to later reasonable regulation under the state’s police power. A 1943 savings clause protected older corporations only from that 1943 act, not from…
Could a first-class Washington school district without a large city buy a school site without a vote in 1954?
Yes, under the spending limit analyzed in the opinion. The AG said a first-class district without a first- or second-class city could use the same population-based authority to buy a site without an…
Could federally paid civilian Washington National Guard workers join the state retirement system in 1954?
Yes. The AG said civilian Guard caretakers and clerks were employees of both governments because the state adjutant general controlled their work even though federal funds paid them. It treated…
Were Washington’s World War II provisions allowing private use of prisoner labor still effective in 1954?
No. The AG read the 1943 act’s “duration of the existing war” limit as expired by 1954, so its private-labor provisions were no longer effective. That answer made the separate constitutional…
Did Washington’s 1953 extra motor vehicle registration fee cover light trailers?
No. The AG said the ten-cent catchall fee applied to motor vehicles, which the code defined as self-propelled units. Trailers under 4,000 pounds were not self-propelled, and the 1953 act set no…
Could a Washington city pay to put an advisory vote about becoming a first-class city on its primary ballot?
The AG did not give the city a direct yes-or-no authorization. It said no statute governed this preliminary advisory vote, so the Secretary of State could address it through election rules; the vote…
Could South Carolina’s utility commission jointly adopt a North Carolina carbon plan and charge South Carolina customers for it?
The Attorney General doubted the commission had statutory authority for the proposed joint proceeding or to impose North Carolina plan costs on South Carolina ratepayers. It identified…
Who should present a juvenile probation violation in South Carolina family court: the solicitor or juvenile justice department?
For the criminal-contempt Rule to Show Cause procedure described, the Attorney General predicted the circuit solicitor was the proper party, because state law vested family-court prosecution duties…
Did South Carolina’s Right to Try Act require hospitals to allow a doctor’s off-label COVID-19 prescription?
The Attorney General predicted the Right to Try Act likely did not apply to the described off-label use. It emphasized physicians’ prescribing discretion and said hospitals generally should respect…
Could Louisiana extend its Medicaid claims processing contract for less than a year?
The AG concluded that extensions of the specified Medicaid fiscal intermediary contract had to be for twelve months, not shorter increments. He said the state's contract could include a clause…
Could a Louisiana hospital service district sell surplus land directly to a physician for a nearby medical practice?
The AG concluded that a hospital service district could negotiate a private sale of surplus land to a physician building a nearby practice. He said the district should declare the land surplus and…
Did the Cheneyville mayor recall petition have enough signatures to trigger an election?
Yes. The AG said the registrar's 231 certified valid signatures exceeded the 40% required in a voting area with 496 electors, so the governor could proclaim a recall election.
Are property owners' objections to two parish street projects counted together or street by street?
Street by street. The AG said each road was a separate project for measuring written objections by owners of more than half the assessed frontage. An objection on one street did not automatically…
Could a Louisiana judge sign a final judgment electronically under the law discussed in Opinion 13-0158?
The AG said no under the statutes it reviewed: none authorized electronic signatures on judgments, and the electronic-transactions law excluded court orders. It identified separate statutory…
Could Louisiana’s wholesale drug distributor board buy the office building it occupied?
The AG concluded that the Board of Wholesale Drug Distributors lacked authority to buy immovable property because its enabling statutes did not expressly grant that power.
Could Cameron Parish use its courthouse-and-jail tax to operate nearby annex buildings?
The AG concluded that the voter-approved tax for maintaining and operating the Cameron Parish Courthouse and Jail could not be used for other buildings, including the annexes and temporary offices…
Could Rayne restrict take-home police vehicles and split an officer's week between paid and volunteer hours?
The AG said Rayne could regulate personal use of city police vehicles, but not interfere with the chief's law-enforcement authority or treat an on-call officer's trip home as personal use. It found…
Who appointed a replacement after a Reeves village alderman resigned?
The AG concluded that the remaining Reeves aldermen, not the mayor, had to appoint a qualified replacement within the statutory period. The mayor could vote only to break a tie; if a tie persisted…
Could an elected parish school-board member also work part time as an assistant district attorney?
The AG concluded that dual-officeholding law did not prohibit an elected parish school-board member from also serving as a part-time assistant district attorney. The opinion said that assistant…
Could a Louisiana school board trade a 99-year lease of Section 16 land for tribal land to build a school?
No. The AG said St. Mary Parish's school board could not use the proposed 99-year lease, land exchange, or cooperative agreement with the Chitimacha Tribe for its Section 16 tract. It suggested…
Did St. Landry Parish have to bid out a bond counsel contract?
The AG said St. Landry Parish did not have to use the Public Bid Law to hire a bond attorney because legal services were service contracts. The parish government could retain bond counsel under a…
Could the Lafourche Parish sheriff sell surplus equipment through an online auction site?
The AG concluded that, absent specific legislation, the Lafourche sheriff was not authorized to sell surplus movable property through an internet auction site. It directed the sheriff to the…
Could Plaquemines Parish use emergency bidding rules to build a safer temporary courthouse after Katrina?
Yes on the facts described. The AG said the makeshift courthouse’s present safety and security risks amounted to an emergency permitting the statutory emergency procedures for temporary courthouse…
Could a Louisiana water district invite public bids for billing services, reject both, then hire the higher bidder without rebidding?
The AG said the Public Bid Law did not require bidding for this service contract, but the water district had chosen a public-bid process and was bound by its own solicitation. Any rejection of bids…
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